Escare will bring the tries, says Tomkins

Phil Wilkinson

Sam Tomkins has backed Morgan Escare to raise the excitement levels at Wigan next season.

The Frenchman will start the season covering for injured Tomkins at full-back.

Escare carved out a reputation as an exciting talent at former club Catalans, scoring 58 tries in 83 appearances over four years. And Tomkins wasn’t surprised to see Shaun Wane move for the live-wire utility.

“Morgan is a great player, he is ridiculously fast, and he can score tries from anywhere on the pitch,” said Tomkins. “Hopefully he can bring those tries to our team next year.”

While some may find it peculiar to have two frontline full-backs in the squad, Wane likes his players to be versatile.

Escare can slot in on the wing or even at dummy-half, while Tomkins started his career as a stand-off.

“There’s always going to be injuries in different positions,” said Tomkins. “I think he’ll be a great addition for us.”

The former Man of Steel says Escare has settled well into his new environment – despite the language barrier!

“He’s a great character, but the difficulty is the language because my French is about as good as his English,” he smiled.

“He text me when he first arrived, I replied, but the conversation went from bad to worse so we abandoned that. Thankfully it’s a lot easier in person.”

Escare and fellow French recruit Romain Navarrete are taking English lessons.